E-Procurement and Anti-Corruption in Public Procurement: The Italian PNRR Case as a Conditional Reference for Latin America

Abstract

Public procurement accounts for approximately 12% of global gross domestic product and represents one of the sectors most exposed to corruption; indeed, 57% of the international corruption cases documented by the OECD involve public contracts. The digitalisation of procurement procedures (e-procurement) currently constitutes the most widespread systemic response to this problem. However, the economic literature shows that its anti-corruption effects are measurable only when digitalisation operates within a context characterised by robust governance institutions and credible supranational support. Against this background, the article analyses the Italian model for the prevention of corruption in public procurement, built around Legislative Decree No. 36/2023 and the milestones of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), as a case study of a country historically exposed to high levels of corruption that has implemented a systemic reform under European external conditionality. To this end, the analysis briefly outlines the digital ecosystem of public procurement, the integrated preventive framework (ranging from anti-mafia exclusion measures to forms of collaborative prevention) and the institutional conditions that make this model effective, while also discussing its potential comparative relevance. In conclusion, the article explicitly highlights the main limitation of such comparison: the Italian model is the product of a highly specific institutional conjuncture that is difficult to replicate in other contexts. Consequently, its lessons for Latin America are meaningful only if the factors that enabled its emergence and that limit its transferability are clearly understood.